What is Schema Markup, and How Does it Help Your SEO?

17 Jul, 2017

Schema Markup from Schema.org is one of the forms of Microdata which enhances the description that appears in Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs). This Schema Markup can be understood by Google, Bing, Yahoo, and Yandex.

For higher website ranking, it’s important to clarify the context of your website to search engines. Schema Markup helps in providing this context which helps to improve the quality of search results.

You can find various Schema Markup types for an organization, like ecommerce, breadcrumbs, events, people, recipes, products, videos, etc. Many major sites have implemented these Markups, including nytimes.com, imdb.com, bbc.co.uk, ebay.com, yelp.com, linkedin.com, monster.com, etc.

Schema Markup as an SEO Tool

The Schema is directly not involved in improving search results but by enhancing the snippets, it makes your web pages rank better in SERPs. These rich snippets improve your website visibility, which results in better Click-through Rates (CTRs).

Only less than one-third of Google search results include Schema Markups, leaving a huge window of opportunity open for you.

Schema Markup for Your Web Pages

But why do web pages require Schema Markup or Microdata?

The answer is, to make the search engines understand your website better. Additional tags along with HTML help in specifying website information and describes what it is all about.

One of the disadvantages of Microdata is that it becomes messy as you have to mark each item within the body.

Before adding the Schema, figure out the itemscope and itemtype. For example: If you are marking a page with the movie Avatar, the complete information about it is the itemscope and the item specifying the information is the itemtype.

Here’s how the Schema Markup is embedded for the HTML code.

HTML code

<p>

<h1>Avatar</h1>

<span>Director: James Cameron (born August 16, 1954)</span>

<span>Science fiction</span>

<a href="../movies/avatar-theatrical-trailer.html">Trailer</a>

</p>

With itemscope

<p itemscope>

<h1>Avatar</h1>

<span>Director: James Cameron (born August 16, 1954)</span>

<span>Science fiction</span>

<a href="../movies/avatar-theatrical-trailer.html">Trailer</a>

</p>

With itemtype

<p itemscope itemtype="http://schema.org/Movie">

<h1>Avatar</h1>

<span>Director: James Cameron (born August 16, 1954)</span>

<span>Science fiction</span>

<a href="../movies/avatar-theatrical-trailer.html">Trailer</a>

</p>

Apart from these basic Schema Markups, there is the itemprop tag as well to provide labels to an item.

<p itemscope itemtype="http://schema.org/Movie">

<h1 itemprop="name">Avatar</h1>

<span>Director: James Cameron (born August 16, 1954)</span>

<span>Science fiction</span>

<a href="../movies/avatar-theatrical-trailer.html">Trailer</a>

</p>

Testing of Schema Markup

Once you have coded the webpage, it’s highly recommended to test it out first.